[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 28, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S316-S317]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SUSAN BOARDMAN RUSS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I often come to this floor to thank various 
staff for their long, tireless and often anonymous work on behalf of 
the U.S. Senate and the 100 Senators who serve here. But it is not 
often that I come down here to acknowledge a public servant who has 
made such an incredible contribution to this institution and our shared 
State of Vermont.
  Today, I would like to honor the 25 years of service of Susan 
Boardman Russ, who has served Senator Jeffords and the people of 
Vermont with extraordinary distinction.
  Vermont is a small place. I have known Susan most of her life. Her 
father delivered two of my three children.
  Over the years, I have watched her grow with a mixture of awe and 
admiration. Susan is brilliant, articulate, and has always kept her 
eyes focused on what is best for Vermont.
  Senator Jeffords is to be commended for recognizing her talent early 
on and for keeping her in the fold this long. While Susan has moved 
with her husband and beautiful daughter to Houston, TX, I know she will 
always be a Vermonter at heart.
  Recently, one of Vermont's finest journalists, Christopher Graff, 
wrote a beautiful tribute to Susan. I ask unanimous consent that it be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

           Susan Russ Steps Down as Jeffords' Chief of Staff

                         (By Christopher Graff)

       Montpelier, VT. (AP)--Susan Boardman Russ was 14 years old, 
     handing out campaign literature at the old Seaway Shopping 
     Center in South Burlington for her Uncle Bob Boardman, who 
     was running for the state Senate from Chittenden County.
       The year was 1968.
       Her school friend, Kathleen McGreevy, was handing out 
     flyers for her uncle, Jim Jeffords, who was running for 
     attorney general.
       ``My uncle was Democrat and hers was a Republican, but that 
     did not matter much to two 14-year-olds,'' says Russ.
       ``Soon, we were efficiently sharing the load. To everyone I 
     handed a Democratic Bob Boardman flyer I also handed a 
     Republican Jim Jeffords flyer and she did the same.''
       Both Boardman and Jeffords were winners that year, their 
     two nieces began a lifelong friendship and Russ' life became 
     intertwined with Jeffords' political career.
       In 1972 she worked during the summer on Jeffords' 
     unsuccessful bid for governor and on ``the night of his 
     primary defeat I swore I would NEVER participate in another 
     election,'' she says. ``I was 18 and heartbroken.''
       That loss, though, was a minor setback for Jeffords, who 
     went on to win the state's lone seat in the U.S. House in 
     1974 and moved to the U.S. Senate in 1988. Every step of the 
     way Susan Russ has been there, starting as his front office 
     manager in 1978, then four years later as his administrative 
     assistant in the House office and finally as chief of staff 
     of his Senate office.
       Now, 35 years after she handed out her first Jeffords' 
     flyer and 25 years after she went to work in Washington, Russ 
     is leaving.
       ``It's been a perfect relationship,'' says Jeffords, adding 
     that the two of them were a ``great combination.''
       ``Her ability to understand me, her common sense and her 
     instincts to keep us out of trouble have been remarkable,'' 
     he says.
       The accolades come from all corners: Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-
     Vt., calls Russ ``a Vermont treasure. For 25 years she has 
     devoted her life to working for Senator Jeffords to make the 
     lives of Vermonters better.'' In the small world department, 
     Leahy noted that Russ' father delivered two of Leahy's 
     children.
       Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the No. 2 Senate Democratic 
     leader, also has high praise for Russ, whom he first met 
     through Russ' husband, Jack, who served as sergeant at arms 
     in the House when Reid and Jeffords served there. Reid says 
     Susan Russ was especially ``politically savvy'' in a job 
     that required it.
       ``Chief of staff is a unique position because you need to 
     have that political savvy, plus you have to a good manager of 
     people, you have to recognize talent, and you can't be afraid 
     to tell the senator when you think he or she is wrong,'' says 
     Reid.
       ``I believe I have been blessed with having the best job 
     imaginable and the most interesting job tolerable,'' says 
     Russ. ``I have had a front row seat to some of the most 
     challenging moments in Washington for the past two and a half 
     decades.''
       When Jeffords first went to Washington he was a little-
     known congressman from a tiny state who was a member of the 
     minority party. Today he is one of the best-known senators in 
     the world, achieving celebrity status with his decision in 
     2001 to abandon the GOP and become an independent, a decision 
     prompted by opposition to the politicies of President George 
     W. Bush.
       Russ says at the time she opposed Jeffords' decision 
     although she knew that ``Jim was clearly miserable.
       ``It was not because of any long held political or 
     philosophical beliefs that I resisted Jim switching,'' she 
     says, but that Jeffords had a long history with the 
     Republican members and leadership. ``We knew the GOP family--
     who to trust--who not to trust.
       ``It is my nature to try to keep things smooth, no rocking 
     the boat. This would surely rock the boat.
       ``With nearly three years since the decision behind me, I 
     do realize that for Jim, it was the only decision he could 
     have made.''
       Asked to pick her favorite legislative experiences, she 
     says there have been too many to do so, but mentions the 1985 
     Farm Bill with its whole herd buyout from among the

[[Page S317]]

     House experiences and the several victories with the dairy 
     compact from among the Senate years.
       ``Each time, no one really believed it was possible but Jim 
     refused to throw in the towel,'' she says.
       Luke Albee, Leahy's chief of staff, gives Russ credit for 
     extension of the compact. ``She was focused and tenacious and 
     she said to us every day when we were exhausted and 
     dispirited, `This is going to happen because it has to 
     happen.' ''
       Russ has no hesitation in what she treasures the most from 
     her decades in Washington: How Jeffords stood by her and her 
     husband when Jack Russ, then the House sergeant at arms, was 
     swept up in a federal probe into how congressmen misused the 
     House bank.
       ``It would have been understandable for Jim the politician 
     to try and distance himself from the House Bank Scandal,'' 
     she says. ``By 1994, when Jim was facing a difficult re-
     election race, Jack had come to represent the `scandal' in a 
     very public way. Jim never hestitated in his support.'' Russ 
     says the tone of Washington and the intensity of the battle 
     have changed dramatically since 1978.
       ``Members of different parties used to have intense battles 
     over issues on the floor of the House or Senate and when it 
     was over go out and have dinner together. They never went 
     into each other's districts to help challengers. There was a 
     general sense of camaraderie that does not exist anymore 
     between members of the two parties.''
       Russ is moving to Texas to be closer to her husband's 
     family. She has formed her own firm to advise businesses and 
     non profits on the ways of government. She hopes the move 
     will allow her to keep a hand in government but allow her 
     more time to spend with her family.
       Russ leaves Washington painfully aware that ``politics is 
     not a game for the meek,'' but more importantly, ``I learned 
     when all is said and done, you have to live with yourself and 
     your decisions, so you better do what you think is right and 
     let the chips fall where they may.''

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